Independent Administrative Reforms and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC) on Thursday announced that 17,000 government vacant posts are ready for an open competition.

“To improve delivery of services at local and national level the Civil Service Commission puts 17,000 vacant posts to an open competition,” said Chief of IARCSC, Nader Nadery, during a press conference in Kabul.

According to Nadery, these 17 thousand positions covers 42 government departments in 34 provinces of Afghanistan in which 8,000 teachers and 9,000 civil servants are included.

He added that these posts were found vacant through investigation of the current structure of public sector.

He further promised a transparent recruitment process for these vacant positions, saying a delegation will travel to all provinces in order to observe the application processes.

Meanwhile, Naderi said women participation in government civil institutions is only five percent which is quite insignificant. He stated that five special scores are available for women who are willing to take part in the contests.

This comes as earlier the Commission announced 697 procurement positions for open competition. Over 30 thousand applications were received and more than seven thousand applicants attended the exam.

According to Central Statistics Organization (CSO), the unemployment rate has peaked in Afghanistan due to insecurity, lack of jobs in government and the private sector organizations.